Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles:The Tale of Alastar
by Grazyfish
Summary: Alastar, a small village on the edge of the peninsula. Their last chalice of myrrh was delivered by a dying Selkie with a note that confirmed the death of their caravan. Now, almost a year later, they must send out and new caravan, or let themselves be destroyed by miasma. This story follows the Alastar caravan as they travel to gather myrrh and find out more about the world.
1. Chapter 1

-Chapter 1: The Beginnning-

It has been almost a year since the small town of Alastar had last received their last dose of Myrrh. The last time they had received it, it was from a badly injured selkie with a note attached to his chalice, the item used to hold Myrrh, saying that all the Alastarian caravanners were slain in battle. The town of Alastar grieved for many nights over the deaths of their brave caravanners, but now it was time to send out a new team of caravanners to collect Myrrh, lest they be consumed by the living evil known as miasma.

* * *

The leaves rustled in the early morning breeze. It was so early that the sun had yet to rise over the horizon. Beside a nearby river, there sat a Clavat, leaning on a large oak tree, fishing. Beside him, there was a small pile of fish on the ground and hung on the tree was a white jacket. He adjusted his long brown sleeves beforre letting out a sigh.

"I guess the fishes don't want to say goodbye," He mused, picking up his jacket and standing up. He lifted his bracered arms and stretched as he wore his jacket. He dusted off his gray-striped brown shorts and leaned down to gather his fishes. He then set off to ward a small bag near the river, his booted feet crunching through the dry leaves on the ground.

"Well, I'd better get going to meet the others," He said to himself, letting out a yawn and rubbing his brown eyes. He crouched down and packed away his fish and rod, swapping it for his weapons; a large battered battleaxe and a contrastingly new shield. He pulled a cloth cap out of his bag and over his dark brown hair and set off from his riverside house.

* * *

"Bye mom, bye dad," Said a female Clavat, "I'll be leaving now."

"We'll miss you so much darling," cooed the girl's mother, giving her a rib-crushing hug in the process.

"Write whenever you can," said the girl's father, his dark eyes a mix of worry and pride.

The Clavat smiled at her parents, her brown hair flowing in the morning breeze. She reached up and held her red and white hood to her head as a strong gust came, her similarly colored cloak flapping in the wind. She wore leather shoes and her ankles and shins were wrapped with cloth bandages.

"Take these to defend yourself," her father said, presenting to her a sabre, a shield and a pair of worn bracers. The girl received the weapons and armor reverently.

"And this is from me," her mother said, placing an odd looking stone with a rune on it in her hand, "It helps you cast magic faster."

"Thank you," The girl replied, wiping away tears from her brown eyes, "I love you both so much!" Then she turned and began walking toward the town gate form her family's ranch.

* * *

Four Lilties stood outside the merchant store, simply smiling at one of them who proudly wore a metal bucket on his head.

"Are you seriously going to go like that?" One of the Lilties asked in a feminine voice, stifling a giggle.

"Yep," the Lilty in question replied. His dark blue armor and spear shone in the sunlight. From his bucket burst forth a wild sprout of hair that flapped in the wind.

"Well just make sure you come back alive and with Myrrh," The oldest Lilty amongst them said, patting the bucket-headed one on his shoulder.

"And kick some ass while you're at it!" The other Lilty said, pumping a fist in the air.

"Oh don't worry, I will," The bucket-headed Lilty sneered before running to the entrance of Alastar.

* * *

"Mooooooom… Stop it!" A female Lilty cried out futilely as her mother tried to cram more vegetables into her already full backpack.

"I don't care if you are going to save Alastar or not," The older Lilty said, pushing a star carrot into the bag, "You are still going to have a balanced diet."

"But meat is balanced," The younger Lilty argued, her pink and white Lilty's garb bobbing up and down as she stamped a cleated foot on the floor impatiently. She was twirling a bronze mallet in irritably while she swept back a strand of her unkempt leaf-like hair. Her blue eyes glinting with frustration as her mother attempted to shove another striped apple into the bag.

"Yes, balanced with fats and unhealthiness." The other Lilty retorted sharply as she closed the bag. Then she turned and tossed the bag at her daughter who caught it. Suddenly, a loud rip sound was heard and the backpack split, sending the fresh produce all over the floor.

"UGH!" The young Lilty cried out exasperatedly. She quickly bent down and picked up the items she wanted to bring and bolted out of the house.

"YOU COME BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR VEGETABLES!" a loud voice boomed from the house accompanied with a flying round corn and other various produce.

* * *

The blacksmith forges were ablaze, the warm glow of the fire outlining the silhouette of a lone Selkie as he bent, forging yet another weapon. The Selkie was the very same one who brought the Alastarian chalice back a year ago. Since then, the townsfolk were kind enough to offer him lodging in their smithy.

The Selkie pulled out the rod of iron he had been tempering and quenched it in the nearby oil barrel. The rod screamed in protest as it was immersed in the black liquid, producing plenty of smoke. The Selkie left the rod in the barrel as he went over to tend to the other forge, in which there was a bronze racket top tempering. He opened the forge, the initial wave of hot air blowing out his short black hair. He squinted his green eyes to locate the metal object and pulled it out with metal tongs. He placed it on the anvil and began to hammer it, each strike sending a shower sparks flying all over the workshop. After the Selkie had finished, he turned and pulled out the iron rod and hammered the racket top around it so that they connected. He popped it back into the furnace once again to solidify the bond.

The Selkie removed the black apron he was wearing, revealing his light blue tunic and black undershirt. He went into the house to get his fur shoulder pads and gloves. After he did so, he pulled his weapon out of the forge and quenched it one last time before wrapping it with leather to protect the metal. He looked up into the sky and said quietly to himself, "Well, it's time to repay the debt I owe to these people."

* * *

The mill was silent, save for a little sniffling from the youngest of the Selkie family of five. The breeze swept past, rustling the fur trimmings and short purple sleeves of the low-cut yellow top of the departing Selkie.

"Do you have to go sis?" The Selkie kid asked, tugging the older Selkie's purple skirt, his eyes still tearing.

"Yes little bro," The Selkie replied, squatting down to see her little brother at eye level. Her green eyes too glittered, threatening to burst into tears.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to you know," Another, older Selkie said, "I could do it for you."

"It's okay big bro," The departing Selkie said, rising up, "I know what I need to do, that's why I signed up for this."

"Come back soon," The oldest Selkie said, patting her on the back onto which was strapped her weapon of choice, an oak bow. Beside him a female Selkie of his age tearing up.

"I will dad and mom," The Selkie said as she turned to leave.

* * *

Two Yukes sat on the porch of the alchemy lab, eating star carrots. They did not say a word to each other. After finishing his star carrot, the younger of the two got up and picked up his haversack. He then proceeded to grab his oak hammer which lay by his side.

"I'll be leaving now father," The Yuke said briskly, pulling the straps of the haversack over his jacketed shoulders and dusting off the seat of his blue kilt. He shielded his eyes that were below his two-horned helmet with a feathery arm as he looked up at the sky and set off down the road.

"Good bye then, son." The older Yuke replied in a raspy voice. The younger of the two simply walked off, not even looking back once as his cleated feet clanked on the road.

* * *

A female Yuke woke up in her bed, she yawned lightly and rubbed the back of her 'Spiral' style helmet. She sat and listened carefully for a while, hearing the sounds of her family's light snoring. She had already said her goodbyes and cried all her tears out the night before, therefore she decided to let her family sleep in today. Her family was in the tailoring business so naturally her clothes were made of the finest material. She pulled on her classic female Yuke blouse and traditional Yuke pants. She quickly slipped on her slippers and wen to pack her things. As she left the house, now on her back an oak staff, elaborately carved with Yukish runes, she was stopped by a small Yuke, her little sister.

"What are you doing here little sister?" the Yuke asked.

"I'm here to say goodbye," Replied the younger Yuke, "I'm worried for your safety."

"Don't worry about me," The Yuke said, rubbing the younger one's helmet, "I'll be fine."

"Come back soon, okay?" The younger Yuke said, her voice wavering.

"Okay," The departing Yuke replied, smiling kindly behind her helmet. Then she walked past the other Yuke and continued on her way.

* * *

The male Clavat arrived first along with the male Selkie. They were followed by a sprinting Lilty, holding most of her belongings in her arms and a male Yuke. After a while, a female Yuke and Clavat both arrived together. Then the other Selkie came. The last person to arrive was the Lilty who insisted on keeping a bucket on his head.

The Male Clavat spoke up. "Well, seeing that Pops isn't here yet, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

"Pops?" Asked the female Selkie, "Roland is your dad?"

"Yup," The Clavat replied casually, "Anyways, I'm Luke, 18 years old, Nice to meet you all,"

"Gar Vul, 18 as well," The male Selkie said briskly.

"Raoul, 17 going on 18," The male Lilty introduced himself, grinning like a fool.

"Uh, hi, I'm Yami…" The female Clavat said nervously, "Um… 17 years old."

"I'm Kim Las, but you can call me Kim. 17 years old too!" The female Selkie exclaimed happily, "Pleasure to meet all of you!"

"Lily, 16 years old but I'm going to be the best warrior out there!" The other Lilty said in an almost sneering manner.

"My name's Ellanoir, I'm 18 years old," The female Yuke stated in a professional manner.

"Azaroth, 19 years old," The male Yuke said.

"Nice to see that all of you are getting to know each other," Said an old voice from behind the new caravanners. They turned to see Roland, the village elder walking slowly towards them.

"Now I'm pretty sure you all know why you're here," The old Clavat began. The eight teens nodded.

"Well, seeing as how walking around the whole time will be tiring, I have taken the liberty of preparing a caravan for all of you." The caravanners cheered loudly, save for Gar Vul who simply nodded in acknowledgement.

However, the cheering died down when Roland brought out their caravan with a large, blue and fuzzy papaopamus. It looked like an extremely small hut squashed at its foundation and mounted onto a large wagon. The perches looked like they would fall off the caravan any moment and the wheels looked kind of rusty and dilapidated. The curtains and roof of the caravan were an uneven cream colour and had questionable stains on it. On the whole, it was a very small caravan for a party of their size and it did not look… up to scratch.

"This… is our caravan?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Er… yes, please do excuse its appearance," Roland said, "It was the best we could do in a month's time."

"I've seen outhouses that look better than that," Raoul scoffed, earning him a smack from Luke.

"Don't insult Pops' handiwork," Luke scolded, then turning to Roland, he said, "Thanks for the caravan Pops, we really appreciate it."

"Its looks leave plenty to be desired," Ellanoir said, "But I guess it's functional."

"Let's go already!" Kim yelled excitedly and leaping onto the rickety caravan, "To adventure, and beyond!"

* * *

AN:

Well, this is the first chapter, I know, i might be a bit boring, but this is just to introduce everyone. Btw, this is my first story and a story I was HEAVILY influenced to write this story by the Dark Ampithere's story, Tipa's Crystal Chronicles. So if there are some similarities, i hope you can understand.

For those of you who are curious about their models:

Luke - Cap

Yami - White Cap

Raoul - Bucket Head

Lily - Bare Head

Gar Vul - Shark Eyes

Kim Las - Owl Head

Azaroth - Black Mage

Ellanoir - Spiral

Alright, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2: On The Way-

The caravan's interior was similar to its exterior, tiny, and after spending a while to cram in all the caravanners' stuff, they realized not all of them were going to fit on it. It could only afford to have four people on it at a time, one steering it, two inside it and one at the back.

"So…" Raoul began, scratching his head. Or… well, his bucket, "Are we taking turns?"

"Maybe," Luke answered calmly, "I suppose the girls would want to ride first."

"Why?" Ellanoir asked, arms crossed, "Are you saying we're weak because we're girls?"

"No," Luke replied, raising his hands defensively, "I just thought you might want to try it first, that's all."

"I'll bet you just wanted to see if it outright collapsed if four people got on," Lily grumbled, crawling onto the rickety transport. Raoul chuckled at the Lilty's comment while Azaroth grinned behind his helmet and said to Luke, "She got you there,"

"That was not my intent!" Luke protested, chuckling at the joke.

Yami said nothing and just meekly sat on the back perch while Kim whooped with joy from where she was on the front. Ellanoir rolled her eyes and got on the caravan anyway.

* * *

Luke was walking next to Gar Vul on the right of the caravan.

"So… Gar," Luke started. Since Gar Vul came to the village, he was taken in by Roland to stay at the deceased blacksmith's house. As a result, he and Luke had become good friends. Gar was Luke's nickname for him. "What do you think of the other caravanners?"

"Not much," Gar replied, "They don't seem to be weak or unlikable, so I'll give them a chance."

"Nice to know that," Luke said, adjusting his cap.

"What do you think of them?" Gar asked Luke.

"Same as you," Luke replied casually, placing his hands behind his head and yawning.

"Are you tired?"

"Nah, just bored."

"How can you be bored?" asked a feminine voice. Luke and Gar turned to see Kim leaning out from the front of the caravan and looking at them.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, scratching the back of his head lazily.

"I mean, we're going on an adventure!" Kim exclaimed excitedly, "We'll be going to see cool places and defeat bad monsters and stuff like that."

"And how is that entertaining?" Luke replied.

"Well, It's… you know… interesting and different." Kim said, hesitating mid-sentence to find the right words to use.

"I suppose so," Luke said thoughtfully, then turning to Gar he asked, "What do you think?"

"I think that this is our service to Alastar and we shouldn't be taking this so lightly." Gar responded. Kim looked puzzled at his seriousness while Luke gave a light laugh and said, "There's no need to be so serious Gar, let her have her fun."

"Gar?" Kim said, then after thinking for a while, looked at Gar and asked, "Can I call you that?"

"Suit yourself," Gar replied.

"Thanks!" Kim said, giving a bright smile.

Suddenly, the caravan shook violently, swerving to the right a little. Kim lost her balance and had to use both her hands to grab the edge of the caravan's front perch to prevent herself from being thrown off it.

"Whoa!" She yelled, "Who's driving this thing?"

"I think it's supposed to be you." Gar said emotionlessly. At this, Kim smacked her forehead and said, "Oh yeah… that's right!"

She turned and resumed steering the caravan properly. Luke chuckled while Gar simply sighed and shook his head.

"I will probably never get used to her," Gar stated.

"Awww, don't be like that," Luke said, knocking Gar's shoulder lightly, "Just because you're taking the adventure seriously doesn't mean that everyone has to do so too."

"You could afford to be more serious and less laid back, _leader_ ," Gar retorted, dragging out the last word.

"Touché," Luke said as they continued walking.

* * *

"What were you doing Kim?" Ellanoir asked from inside the caravan as Kim slid back to the center of the caravan's front perch

"Nothing," Kim replied cheerfully, her eyes still on the road, "Just checking out what Luke and Gar were doing."

"Gar?" Lily asked, polishing her mallet.

"Yeah, Gar Vul said we could call him that," Kim explained.

"Well… Okay then, if he says so." Ellanoir replied.

"Gar seems really serious about this caravanning business," Kim said, "He looks like he just wants to get this over and done with."

"Well, seeing how if we fail our mission, Alastar will collapse and fall prey to miasma, I don't see anything wrong with him being like that." Ellanoir said.

"True," Kim replied, "But I think that he could afford to enjoy himself a little more."

"Aren't you enjoying yourself a little TOO much?" Lily scoffed, inspecting her mallet carefully as she rotated it.

"Nah," Kim said, "I think that if we are going to be doing something, then we might as well enjoy it while we can."

"You do have a point," Ellanoir admitted, "But if that enjoyment comes at the price of our ability to carry out what we were supposed to do, then I'd rather not have it."

"I second that," Lily agreed.

"Um… what are you guys talking about?" asked a shy voice from the back of the caravan. Ellanoir and Lily turned to see who it was while Kim just greeted brightly, "Hi Yami! We were just talking about how much we should enjoy this adventure while still fulfilling what we were originally sent out to do."

"Well, if my opinion matters," Yami started, "I think that we should enjoy it while we can instead of looking at it as if it was a burden."

At this, Kim leapt off the front perch backwards, in between the two girls sitting inside and grasped Yami's hands and exclaimed, "I know right!?"

Lily, Ellanoir and Yami were extremely surprised by this action, causing Ellanoir to back up against the bags behind her, Lily to drop her mallet and Yami to nearly fall off the back perch of the caravan.

"Don't do that!" Lily reprimanded Kim as she picked up her mallet and Kim crawled back to that Front perch, "You'll get my mallet dirty!"

"Um… but if you're going to kill monsters with that mallet, then isn't it bound to get dirty?" Yami asked.

"Well-er I mean," Lily began. For some odd reason, she hadn't thought of that before. "I… er… only want to have monster blood on it." She finished lamely.

"I guess that's a valid reason," Ellanoir said, sighing and adjusting her helmet, "No matter how irrational it may be."

"Irrational?!" Lily yelled angrily, "I'll have you know this was my father's first mallet, ever!"

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Yami said softly. A silence fell over the four girls. Almost all of the caravanners had lost a family member as Alastar did not have such a large population, as a result, either one of their parents or siblings was in the late caravan of Alastar.

"It's alright," Lily replied, resuming her polishing.

Yami turned to face the back of the caravan while Ellanoir took out a book to read. Kim stayed silent for a long while before trying lighten the atmosphere.

"So… what are you guys' favorite food?"

* * *

On the left of the caravan, Azaroth and Raoul were walking side by side. Raoul was attempting to strike up a conversation, and succeeding.

"So, do you like striped apples?" Raoul asked.

"No," Azaroth replied.

"Um… well what do you like to eat?"

"Star carrots."

"How can you stomach that kind or food?" Raoul inquired, pretending to gag at the memory he had of his first time eating one.

"I think that it's not the taste that matters," Azaroth explained, "It's rather the nutritional value that counts."

"Isn't meat nutritious?"

"No," Azaroth replied reaching a feathered hand into his bag, "It has too much fat for one's own go-OW!"

Azaroth was cut off by pulling his hand out of his bag quickly, shaking it around, trying to get a mouse-trap off of his hand. Beside him, Raoul was laughing out loud, clutching his sides and doubling over.

"You put it there, didn't you?" Azaroth asked as he pried the contraption off of his hand

"No I didn't," Raoul answered, still chuckling.

"Yes you did," Azaroth insisted, tossing the trap behind him.

"Hey!" Raoul cried out, getting back on his feet, "I spent a good bit of money on that!"

"So it was you!" Azaroth said, approaching the Lilty.

"Oops," Raoul muttered before he was caught in a headlock.

"This oughta teach you," Azaroth growled, clanging his hammer on the Lilty's bucket head like a drum.

"Owowowow…" Raoul muttered, stumbling back and forth after he had been released from the Yuke's grip.

"Have we learned our lesson yet?" Azaroth asked, tappig his hammer against his hand.

"Yeah, I have," Raoul said, letting out a good natured laugh as he tried to straighten out his walk. Azaroth chuckled as well. He had to admit, it was a pretty funny sight. The both of them were snapped out of their laughing when they both felt a stinging sensation course through their bodies.

"Ow! What the heck?" Raoul yelled as a second wave of pain coursed through his body.

"It's miasma," Azaroth said, not showing any signs of anguish caused by the miasma, "We must be too far from the caravan."

The both of them began running back to the caravan that had gone fortunately not too far away from them.

* * *

After about half an hour or so of travelling, they came across the Alfitarian caravan, whose leader greeted them warmly.

"Greetings caravanners," The Lilty said in an official tone, his grey armour glinting in the sunlight, "My name is Sol Racht, how are you doing today?"

"Fine, I must say," Luke replied casually.

"Might I ask which caravan you are from?" Sol Racht asked politely.

"We're from Alastar!" Kim proudly proclaimed from the perch of the caravan.

"Alastar? Then that means…" Sol Racht said, drifting off.

The caravanners looked at each other as an uncomfortable silence quashed the conversation.

"Umm… good sir?" Luke said, snapping his fingers.

"Huh? Oh yes!" Sol Racht said, "Since you are new, I will introduce you to Stiltzkin."

The amoured Lilty stepped aside to present a fuzzy little creature with a red ball of fur above its head. It had small feet, small wings, a bandanna, a small back pack and some clothes.

"A moogle…" Ellanoir commented, rubbing her chin, or at least where it would have been as she stepped out of the caravan. It was common etiquette for most members of the caravan to alight from their vehicle when encountered by another caravan.

Suddenly, they heard a squeal and before anyone could say anything, Yami leapt at Stiltzkin and tackle-hugged him.

"You're so cuuuuuuute!" Yami exclaimed, rubbing her cheek against Stiltzkin's fur.

"What the?!" Stiltzkin cried, "Help!"

Sol Racht and Kim stepped up and managed to pry Yami away from the moogle.

"Anyways," Stiltzkin said, shaking himself off, "I'm Stiltzkin and I can give you advice on anything, what do you need to know?"

"Nothing," Ellanoir replied flatly, "We intend to learn from experience."

"Really?" Stiltzkin asked, "Even so, you must learn the basics of magic an-"

"We do," Ellanoir said briskly, cutting the poor moogle off.

"Oh, okay then," Stiltzkin said, a subdued tone to his voice, "Oh well, please go ahead."

Lily stepped forward.

"Hey, Sol Racht?" She asked in a respectful tone, "Can you tell me more about Alfitaria?"

"Sure," The armored Lilty replied, "What do you want to know?"

"I wanted to know about your training regime," Lily said briskly.

Gar stepped up as well, saying, "I would like to know as well; knowing a military grade training regime would be a good reference for my own."

"Well, first we start with…" Sol Racht began, before elaborating to the other about the tough training they had and their daily practices.

"That wasn't very polite you know." Raoul said to Ellanoir, motioning to the moogle that was dejectedly pawing at the dirt.

"Well it's true." The female Yuke replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Umm… but I kinda wanted to know how magic works." Yami said softly, but loudly enough for the others to hear.

"I can explain it to you," Ellanoir said, "Magic is energy that we draw from the environment and convert into what we call spells, for example, fire, blizzard, thunder, cure, and so on. Anyone can use magic but the time taken to gather up the energy varies from person to person. For example, Yukes tend to be able to cast magic faster than say a… Lilty."

"Hey!" Lily cried out indignantly from a far.

"Magic can also be fused with other magic to cast fusion spells, which are more powerful but take a longer time to cast," Ellanoir continued, ignoring the Lilty, "Mono-type fusion spells such as fira and blizzara take a shorter time to cast than poly-type fusion spells such as gravity and slow. This problem can be remedied by two or more people casting the spell together, also allowing for the casting of even more powerful spells such as firaga, blizzaga, slowaga or graviga."

"I see," Yami replied, bowing her head slightly, "Thank you for explaining that."

"My pleasure," Ellanoir said, beaming with pride.

"Okay guys, let's go," Lily said, making her way back onto the caravan, "We need to hurry; I don't want to need to camp in a dungeon."

"And whose fault is that?" Ellanoir muttered, shrugging.

"Whatever," Lily growled, glaring at the Yuke, "Just because I wanted to know one small thing."

"Still your fault," Ellanoir said, getting on the caravan as well.

* * *

AN:

Second chapter!

not that exciting but it still needs to be done.

Read, Review and Enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3: River Belle Adventures-

River Belle path was, to say the least, beautiful. It had pristine clear rivers running through its entire landscape. The bridges, obviously remnants of a past civilization, were masterful wooden constructions, despite lacking railings. Apart from the main dirt path, the grass was green and fresh and the trees also seemed to be in the same condition. The only ugly thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was the abundance of monsters everywhere. Their foul appearance stained the gorgeous landscape in the same way an ink stain would a white handkerchief.

"It's quite a sight isn't it?" Luke asked Gar, still taking in the full beauty of the place.

"Yeah, it is," Gar responded.

"A perfect place for a picnic," Raoul commented, stretching, "Save for the monsters."

"It probably was, before the miasma I mean," Ellanoir said, surveying the terrain.

"SO PRETTY!" Kim exclaimed loudly, attracting the attention of two nearby goblins. They rushed at the excited Selkie, brandishing their cutlasses ferociously and yelling, "Invaders!"

"Watch out!" Lily barked, leaping at one them and bashing its head with her mallet.

The other goblin swung his cutlass at Kim, who expertly did a backflip to avoid the attack. As she did it, Ellanoir cast a fire spell that flew under her and hit the goblin square in the face.

"Nice one!" Kim said as she landed. She shot an arrow that planted itself right in between the goblin's eyes, killing it.

"Let's get going," Lily said, returning to the others after she beat the living daylights out of her goblin.

Luke nodded and the caravanners proceeded forward, only to be caught by more goblins, accompanied by two other monsters. One of them was round like a ball, with spikes on its back the other was a furry squirrel-like creature with a long tail and sharp claws.

"A hedgehog pie and a mu," Luke said, preparing himself, "Interesting,"

"Attack!" One of the goblins yelled.

Yami dropped the chalice she was holding and launched herself at the mu, cuddling it and squeaking in delight. The mu angrily responded by attempting to slash its Clavat cage, but its hands were held fast. One of the goblins struck at Yami, only to be intercepted by Luke, who ran there and blocked the attack with his shield. Gar fired a couple of well-aimed aura shots directly at the goblin's head, killing it. Azaroth and Ellanoir cast a thunder and a fire respectively on the same goblin, accidentally casting gravity and crushing the goblin under its own weight.

"Hey!" They both yelled simultaneously, glaring at the other, "Don't aim for my target!"

The remaining goblin ran at Lily, slashing her arm. Lily grunted in pain but swung her mallet around her, bringing it straight on the face of the goblin, knocking it out and sending it flying into the nearby river. Kim shot an arrow at the hedgehog pie, but it leapt into the air and came crashing down her. She screamed as a flurry of rocks flew towards her. A spear shot forth from behind her, smashing the rocks into harmless bits. Raoul swung around in a circle, slashing the hedgehog pie's stomach clean open. As the monster curled up and faded into the miasma, Raoul turned around and helped Kim to her feet.

"You alright?" He asked smiling kindly.

"Yeah, thanks to you," Kim replied.

"Ow!" Yami cried as the mu finally managed to free a clawed paw to slash her in the arm. Luke swung his axe twice, both attacks hitting their mark and killing the furry monster.

"Hold on a second," The male Clavat said to Yami as he gathered enough energy to cast a cure.

"Thanks," Yami thanked as her arm stopped bleeding.

"No problem," Luke replied, smiling as he bandaged the wound.

"Let's go leader," Gar said emotionlessly as he walked past them, "No time for flirting."

Yami blushed intensely while Luke simply got up and lightly smacked Gar on the back, saying, "I wasn't flirting!"

"Yeah right," Gar responded, rolling his eyes.

"Hey guys, what's this?" Raoul asked, waving a large crescent shaped rock in his hands.

"That's a keystone," Ellanoir answered, "Where'd you get that?"

"When the monster I was fighting died, it kinda left this behind," Raoul said.

"Well let's use it then!" Kim exclaimed, pointing to a pedestal with a crescent shaped hole in it.

"You're too excited for your own good." Lily stated as she was healed by Ellanoir.

"Nah I think it's fine that she's enjoying herself," Raoul said, shrugging his shoulders and grinning like a fool as he put the keystone in the pedestal. Kim gave Lily and Ellanoir a smug smile. The wooden gate beside the bridge then moved to the left of it, opening the pathway to the bridge.

"Hey Ellanoir," Lily said, looking at her bandaged arm, "Why do you need to put a bandage on the wound if you've already cast a cure on it?"

"Well, you see," Ellanoir began, "A cure spell doesn't miraculously heal the wound, it only prevents the wound from bleeding or cures internal bleeding. The wound would still have to heal on its own to regain its original appearance and functionality."

"So that's how it is," Lily mused, following the rest.

Yami picked up the chalice but before she joined the rest in crossing the bridge, she saw an odd structure.

"Hey guys," She called out pointing to it, "What's this?"

The others turned around and looked at it. I looked like a small marble pedestal surrounded by magic circles, flowing with blue magical energy. Above the pedestal floated a pristine blue orb that refracted the sunlight passing through it.

"What would a pedestal like this be doing here?" Kim asked, scratching her head.

"It's a Hot Spot," Ellanoir began, clearing her throat, "It changes the element of our chalice, allowing us to pass through miasma streams as well as offer protection against various spells. This one seems to be the water element."

"Should we change it then?" Raoul asked, bouncing his lance on his shoulder.

"Yes," Azaroth replied, "The miasma stream ahead is water, I checked up the calendar before we left."

Yami settled the chalice on the pedestal, allowing the pedestal to change its element. The orb produced a small drop of blue liquid. The droplet dripped onto the crystal, changing it from a tint of red to a tint of blue.

"Well, let's be on our way then," Luke said, moving toward the bridge, "We can't be here all day."

* * *

On the other side, they saw another gate, guarded by a couple of goblins and a mu, both of which were dispatched relatively easily. The mu dropped the keystone which they used to proceed on. They walked forward until they came to a split in the path.

"Which way should we go?" Raoul asked, scratching his head, or helmet in his case. A small silence came over the caravan until Kim piped up.

"Left anybody?" She asked, bouncing on the balls f her feet.

"I think we should go right to explore and probably find some items first," Azaroth answered.

"How can you tell where the exit is?" Lily asked, tapping a foot irritably now that she was not killing anything.

"Well, this place in called River Belle Path," He explained, turning around and motioning to the river, "So if we go away from it, then we are probably going away from the objective."

"Reasonable enough for me," Luke said as he took a left into a slightly more hilly area. The rest of eventually following.

In that area, they saw a couple of treasure chests, defended only by two goblins.

"Sweet, free treasure!" Kim exclaimed, lining up a shot with her bow.

Suddenly, one of the goblins whistled and from behind the caravanners came more goblins and this time, two goblin chieftains.

"Crap, this might be bad," Luke said, as he blocked an incoming slice from the chieftain.

"Nah, you're just over thinking it." Raoul replied, charging at one of the goblins, impaling it. He then pulled his spear out of the creature and sliced its throat killing it.

Lily engaged another goblin, bashing its teeth out of its grotesque face and proceeding to smack it some more. She was swatted aside by one of the chieftains' large sword.

"You die!" The chieftain roared as he swung his sword in an arc over his head, bringing it down on the stunned Lilty, had Gar not swooped in to pull her out of the way.

"Thanks," Lily grunted as she got up.

Gar grunted in acknowledgement as he aimed two aura shots to the chieftain's ugly mug. They hit and the monster was sent stumbling backward. Gar and Lily ran towards the chieftain and smacked its kneecaps, breaking them. The chieftain roared in pain as it was brought to its knees. Lily swung her mallet at the chieftain's stomach, knocking the wind out of it as Gar looped around the chieftain and leapt up landing on its back. Then he pushed off it, leaping higher into the sky. The chieftain, unable to cope with two enemies, swung his sword at Lily who parried it and beat him again with her weapon. Gar came spinning back down, bringing his racket down hard on the monster's head, cracking its skull and killing it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kim was beating back a goblin that had gotten too close for comfort. Yami placed the chalice on the ground and then cast a blizzard spell on the goblin, freezing it.

"Thanks!" Kim replied as she fired two arrows at the goblin, killing it before it unfroze.

"You're welcome," Yami replied, smiling kindly.

Suddenly, a goblin leapt out from behind Yami, his cutlass poised to stab her in the back.

"Behind you!" Kim yelled as she pushed Yami out of the way and was stabbed by the goblin.

"Kim!" Yami exclaimed as she slashed the goblin with her sword, "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," Kim replied, wincing in pain as she nailed the goblin with an arrow to the knee. Yami had cast a cure spell on Kim and was helping her bandage her wound when Kim yelled, "Look out!" and shot two arrows behind Yami. Yami turned to see a goblin not too far from her, dashing towards her brandishing her cutlass menacingly. The goblin cut up the incoming arrows and continued running. Kim tried to line up another couple of arrows while Yami turned and hid behind her shield.

Suddenly, white and brown blur ran in, bashing the goblin with its shield.

"You and I are taking this fight someplace else." Luke hissed, shoving the goblin away from the girls.

* * *

While this was taking place, Azaroth and Ellanoir were dealing with the other goblin chieftain. The monster swung his blade, slashing both of them.

"Damn it," Azaroth hissed as he cast a blizzard spell on the chieftain, freezing it.

"We need to coordinate our attacks better," Ellanoir said to him as she healed the both of them with cure.

"I guess so," Azaroth agreed as the chieftain broke free of its icy prison. Ellanoir cast a fire spell at the chieftain's chest, causing it to cry out in pain. Then as the monster tried to attack the two Yukes, it found itself held fast by ice. In front of its feet, there was a large icicle sticking out of the ground.

"Now Ellanoir!" Azaroth yelled as he cast another blizzard spell. Ellanoir nodded and cast a fire spell as well. The spells hit the chieftain's head, fusing to form a gravity spell. The monster fell face-first rapidly, right onto the ice spike. Azaroth and Ellanoir both turned away, not wanting to witness the fruit of their effort.

"Well, that was easy enough," Azaroth stated, dusting his hands off.

"Easy for you to say," Ellanoir said, bandaging her knife wound, "I still have to bandage your wounds.

* * *

Raoul was fending off four goblins but was not succeeding. Although he had already killed one of them, the other three were wearing him down. He swung his spear in an arc, causing the goblin's to dodge backwards. One of them lunged forward and slashed his shoulder. As he tried to attack it, his spear was blocked at its blunt end by another goblin. The goblin that had struck his shoulder drew its cutlass out and slashed his leg, causing him to buckle. Raoul used his uninjured leg to kick the goblin away and beat the other one back with the blunt end of his spear. The last goblin saw his chance and leapt at Raoul.

"Shit," Raoul said, too tired to dodge the attack.

Suddenly, an aura shot smacked the leaping goblin back, sending him skidding on the dirt path. Raoul turned to see Gar offering a hand to him.

"You alright?" Gar grunted pulling Raoul to his feet.

"Yeah, I guess," Raoul replied.

"Well then you obviously haven't taken a good look at yourself," Lily said, smacking a goblin upside the head with her mallet, "Sit back and rest while I take care of this."

Raoul responded to this by skewering one of the goblins and slamming it on the ground. Gar dashed to the goblin he had hit before and bashed its skull in while Lily finished up her goblin by beating it into the dirt.

"Hmph, I guess you are capable of killing something in that condition," Lily sneered, wiping her mallet off.

"I'm tougher than you think," Raoul replied, grinning at her.

"Let's find Ellanoir," Gar said expressionlessly, "You need to get hose wounds treated."

* * *

Luke had tackled the goblin away from the girls but had fallen into the nearby river. He quickly recovered and readied his weapons.

"Alright pal, let's do this," He growled at the goblin.

"If you so wish," The goblin replied in a surprisingly refined tone. Luke had known that goblins and more intelligent monsters were capable of speech, but he had never expected a normal goblin to have such intelligent, even human-like speech.

The goblin surged towards Luke, striking out with its cutlass. Luke easily blocked this with his shield and countered with his battle axe. However, the goblin withdrew its cutlass and used it to parry the attack. After knocking away Luke's weapon, the goblin slashed the Clavat's arm. Luke winced in pain but knocked the goblin away with his shield.

'Shit, he's faster than the others,' Luke thought to himself as he attacked the goblin his face now a frown of concentration. To his knowledge, the only caravanners aside from him who had practiced rigorously prior to the adventure were himself, Gar, Azaroth and Lily. He had always thought himself at least a little adept at combat and yet he was having difficulty in killing this one goblin.

Luke was snapped out of his thoughts by the goblin parrying his attack once again, this time however, Luke reacted and bashed it in the face with his shield. The Clavat then swung his axe, landing a blow right across the goblin's chest. The goblin grunted in pain but he leapt over Luke, surprising him, and landing behind him, Before Luke could turn around, he was sliced repeatedly across his back. Luke cried out in agony but managed to turn around and slash the goblin across its face, leaving a large knife wound. Suddenly, an arrow planted itself in the goblin's arm and a blizzard spell hit it square in the face, or would have, had the monster not blocked it with his cutlass.

"Luke! Are you alright?" Kim called out as she fired another shot at the goblin.

"Hmph, it would appear that you have back up," The goblin said, blocking the arrow with his frozen cutlass, "I will retreat for now."

The goblin leapt up and landed in a tree. Then it ran off into the distance, bouncing from tree to tree. Luke gritted his teeth; had he not been strong enough to kill that goblin? Was it just that one goblin that was so hard to kill? Questions were filling his head as the others made their way to him via a broken bridge.

"Yeah I'm fine," Luke replied, "Did you get the treasure chest's loot?"

"Yep!" Raoul called out as he jumped down into the river, "Three iron chunks and a recipe for some kind of armor."

"Nice," Luke said, drawing out the word, his smile returning to his face.

* * *

"Mmmmmm… this meat is delicious…" Lily said happily, a smile plastered across her face.

"Is it really that nice tasting?" Yami asked, tucking into a loaf of bannock.

"You bet it is!" Kim replied, wolfing down a piece herself.

The Alastar caravan had collectively decided to take a break and have a picnic on the grassy river banks. Yami brought out some milk and meat that she had in her bag, Lily gladly brought out the vegetables that her mother had stuffed into her pockets and Kim gave everyone bannock that she had stashed in her haversack.

"Hey Lily," Ellanoir said, popping a small rainbow grape into her helmet, "I was wondering, why do you not have a bag?"

"My mother burst it trying to cram vegetables into it." Lily replied, spitting out the word 'vegetables' as if it made a bad taste in her mouth. Raoul burst out laughing at this revelation. Yami stifled a giggle and Ellanoir simply chuckled openly.

"Hey! It's not funny you know!" Lily cried out indignantly, "It doesn't feel good to, you know, miss out on loot collection."

"We'll get you another bag at Marr's Pass," Ellanoir said coolly, "Don't get your feathers in a knot."

"Hey guys, where's Luke and Gar?" Raoul asked the rest, turning around to check for Luke.

"Don't worry about them," Azaroth replied, waving a hand dismissivey, "They won't be going anywhere too far due to the crystal barrier."

* * *

Gar sat silently somewhat distance from the others, eating his food quietly. Kim saw him and went to sit next to him. She snuck up behind him and ran a finger down his spine, causing him to shiver.

"Gah!" Gar cried out, "What the heck?!"

He turned to see Kim laughing out loud and rolling on the ground.

"Oh, that was too good!" Kim said in between laughs, "Your reaction!"

Gar grunted in annoyance and returned to gazing into the distance. Kim sat up and sat next to him.

"Awww… don't be so upset Gar," She said apologetically, "It was only a prank."

"I'd rather my privacy not be invaded," Gar responded, his green eyes still staring out into the distance. Kim decided to stare out as well and saw what Gar was seeing. The rest of River Belle Path, It had rolling green plains, large beautiful trees and more sparkling rivers… as well as monsters.

"It's quite pretty," Kim whispered, her short purple hair flowing in the wind.

Gar nodded in response, taking a bite out of his food.

"Ummm… what's that?" Kim asked, looking at Gar's food. It was a loaf of bannock that was cut in half and in between the halves were slices of meat, gourd potato and striped apple as well as some round corn kernels.

"Uh… I don't really know," Gar replied, scratching his head and looking at it, "It's just how I eat my food."

"It looks really weird!" Kim exclaimed, "Can I please have a bite?"

"Uh… Okay?" Gar replied, puzzled. Kim leaned over and took a big bite of Gar's food. A flavor she had never experienced before flooded her mouth; the tastes of all the food inside melded together and created a delicious sensation.

"Mmmmmm!" Kim said, "It's really good!"

"Thanks," Gar replied flatly, resuming his eating.

"You should really give it a name," Kim suggested.

"Okay…" Gar replied slowly, "How about a…"

"Sandwich?" Kim piped up.

"A sandwich?" Gar asked, taking a bite out of his 'sandwich'.

"Yeah," Kim replied, "It was what came into my head at the time."

"Fine, whatever," Gar said.

"Okay then! From now on I will eat my food as sandwiches!" Kim exclaimed. Then as she was leaving she turned around and said to Gar, "You're really weird!"

"I wonder who's the weirder of us two," Gar muttered to himself.

* * *

"Hey Kim," Raoul called out as Kim was returning, "What were you doing?"

"Nothing much," Kim replied, sitting down.

"Well, I think it's time to get a move on," Ellanoir said, packing up the remaining food.

"I guess so," Lily said, finishing her piece of meat, "Though damn that was some good meat."

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Luke said as he approached the rest of the caravanners.

"Luke, where in Alastar have you been?" Ellanoir asked exasperatedly.

"I went fishing," Luke replied calmly, holding up a bundle of fish.

"Wow, you caught that many?" Yami asked softly, in awe at Luke's skill.

"It not much," Luke replied modestly, shrugging his shoulders, "I usually catch more."

"Well we should get going," Azaroth said, pulling out his small water skin, "We should aim to reach at least the miasma stream by evening."

"Agreed," Ellanoir concurred, getting up and dusting herself, "It would be-"

She was cut off by Azaroth spitting out his water and coughing violently. The other caravanners looked at the Yuke, concern evident in their eyes.

"It was you wasn't it?" Azaroth said unamusedly, wiping his mouth. The others followed his gaze to a smiling Raoul.

"Who?" Raoul asked innocently, but his tone gave him away.

"I'm talking about the alcohol in my skin," Azaroth deadpanned, lightly shaking the container in his hand.

"I have no idea what you're talki-"

The Lilty was stopped mid-sentence as he Azaroth's water skin found his lips. The smaller person being held down and forced to down the fiery brew. When he had finished it all, the Yuke let him go, spluttering.

"W-water," Raoul gasped as he scratched at his throat. The group started laughing, Kim and Lily doubling over with laughter while Luke turned his into a cough. Gar merely raised an eyebrow as Yami went to help Raoul get his water skin. Ellanoir just chuckled softly saying, "You deserved that."

"Anyways," Luke began, clearing his throat, as Raoul sucked greedily at his water skin, "Let's set off."

* * *

AN:

The first chapter with any actual combat!

If any of you guys have any feedback on the fight scenes and how they can be improved, please tell me.

Next up is the Crab King, please read, review, and enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4: VS King Crab-

After they had finished packing, Luke led the group through the dungeon. After finishing off more monsters and looting more chests, the Alastar caravan made it to a fork in the road.

"Which way Luke?" Yami asked.

"I guess left?" Luke asked the rest of the caravanners.

"You're the leader, make your choice." Lily said gruffly.

"Left it is," Luke said, leading the others down a path the led to a tunnel.

They came out into a place walled off by high ridges and a mountain. From the mountain shout out a huge clear waterfall that ended in a small lake.

"Where's the myrrh tree?" Ellanoir asked.

Gar pointed behind the waterfall and sure enough, despite being a while off, was the myrrh tree, its emerald 'leaves' glittering in the sun.

"Sweet," Raoul said, "We can go take it!"

As he said that, a large crab burst forth from the waterfall and landed in front of them. It had six legs and two claws; one large one with multiple weapons stuck in it and the other small, long and curved. It was an orange colour except for some parts of it which were black. It had globe shaped yellow eyes that had a cross-shaped pupils.

"What is that thing?!" Yami cried out fearfully, dropping the chalice.

"A King Crab," Ellanoir hissed under her breath.

The King Crab moved forward, lashing out at the caravanners. Luke blocked its attack with his shield while Raoul dashed to side of the monster, slashing its side. The beast cried out in pain and turned to face its assailant, but it was blasted by a barrage of arrows and fire spells. From where she was, Lily noticed that the arrows caught fire as they hit the King Crab in conjunction with the fire spells. But not in a bad way, somehow the fire wrapped around the arrows, causing them to cause small explosions on impact.

"Hey! Yami!" Lily called out. The Clavat was busy trying to cure Raoul who had been swatted away by the King Crab.

"Yes?" Yami called back.

"Can you cast a blizzard on the oversized orange beetle?" Lily yelled.

"Ummm… I think it's actually a crustacean," Yami shouted back, "But sure I can. Now?"

"Not yet," Lily yelled, running towards the King Crab, "When I give you the signal, do it!"

Lily was rapidly approaching the monster. Luckily for her, it did not notice her as it had to fend off Gar and Luke as well as block the fire spells and arrows that rained down on it. She darted towards the monster and when she was close enough, she cried out, "NOW YAMI!"

Yami released the spell she had been charging, its blue light arcing like an arrow as it flew towards its target. Lily swung her mallet at the spell, causing it to disperse. Then it gathered around her mallet, not as ice, but as magic.

"All right!" Lily yelled. Then she proceeded to slam her weapon into the King Crab with all her might. The mallet hit the beast with a sickening crunch. It cried out in agony as it was frozen by the blizzard magic.

"Nice one Lily!" Kim called out as she fired another volley of arrows into the King Crab.

"Luke," Gar said, motioning to the monster with his head.

"Yeah," Luke replied. The both of them sprinted towards the King Crab and attacked it. Gar smashed its small claw while Luke chopped off its larger one. The beast yelled in a mix of anguish and fury as its claws disappeared into the miasma. It glared angrily at the caravanners, but not for long as it was hit by a thundara spell from Azaroth. Ellanoir and Kim continued firing spells and arrows respectively at the King Crab, but it was wearing them down. The King Crab crouched low, seemingly preparing for something.

"What's it doing?" Azaroth asked, observing the creature.

Suddenly, it leapt up, almost as high as the waterfall it had come out from, threatening to crush anything beneath it.

"Watch out Yami!" Raoul cried out. Yami, heeded his warning and managed to just roll out of the way of the incoming attack.

"How do you even see with that bucket on your head?" Lily asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," Raoul said, grinning slyly.

Lily rolled her eyes and dashed towards the King Crab, smashing its leg. The monster let out a bunch of turquoise bubbles from its mouth.

"Hey it's dying!" Lily cried out happily.

"Lily get away from those things!" Ellanoir shouted, "Those are slow bubbles!"

But it was too late, Lily got hit by a couple, slowing her down drastically. Yami cast a clear spell on Lily but the King Crab hit her with a thundara spell, Yami screamed in pain as the electricity coursed through her body, before falling on her side. The King Crab leapt into the air again, managing to avoid a thundara spell from Azaroth and threatening to land on Ellanoir and Kim. Gar managed to dash past, picking up the exhausted girls and moving them from harm's way. Lily ran up and bashed the monster's back but she was hit with a thundara spell.

"Gar! We need to end this!" Luke yelled out as he evaded another thundara spell.

"Right," Gar replied, his green eyes glinting with purpose.

The both of them dashed towards the King Crab but went different directions, when they reached it. Gar went around its right, bashing it with his racket. Luke went around its left, slashing it with his sword. The beast cried out in pain and began leaping into the air.

"Azaroth! Use gravity!" Luke yelled out.

"Already on it," Azaroth yelled back, releasing a gravity spell he had been charging up. It hit its mark, slamming the King Crab down on the ground. Luke and Gar leapt on top of the King Crab. The Selkie fired two shots at the beast's back carapace, cracking it. Luke brought his axe down heavily on the crack, breaking through it and sinking the axe deep into the wound. The King Crab cried out into pain as dark green blood spurted out of the wound. Luke twisted his axe, causing more blood to flow out. Raoul ran in through the front, slashing its eyes out and causing the monster to shudder violently and gurgle in pain. Gar was bashing in the King Crab's legs. The beast then stumbled backward and crashed on to the ground, vanishing into the miasma. Luke, Gar and Raoul walked over to his injured teammates where Azaroth was casting cure on them.

"Are they alright?" Luke asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah, they're going to be fine for the most part," Azaroth said, standing up, "Though we should let them rest a bit before moving on."

* * *

After resting for a while, the caravanners went to the myrrh tree. Yami, the chalice bearer for this dungeon, reverently placed the chalice on the stone pedestal before the huge myrrh tree. The chalice shimmered, sending up a magical light to the myrrh tree whose leaves glittered. Then a drop of myrrh fell from one of the leaves, landing on the chalice's crystal and filling the chalice up one third.

"Your mail kupo!" A voice called out from behind them. They turned to see a moogle, like Stiltzkin, except with a mail bag running towards them. Lily and Kim had to restrain Yami from tackle-hugging the moogle as it gave out mail to each of the caravanners. Except Gar.

"Sorry kupo, I don't have any mail for you," The moogle said sadly.

"It's fine," Gar grunted, "Just be on your way."

The mail moogle waited for replies from all the caravanners that had received letters before running off into the miasma.

"I wanted to hug him too!" Yami complained, glaring at Kim and Lily.

"YOU need to stop hugging everything fuzzy you see!" Lily cried out exasperatedly.

"Well guys, that's one down," Luke said, casually leaning back on the pedestal, "Only two more to go."

"Well let's go then!" Kim exclaimed, hopping up and down excitedly, "I can't wait to see Mushroom forest!"

* * *

AN:

Hi guys! sorry for the late chapter, many of my projects are due so i couldn't update as fast as I would have liked.

Also I'm going overseas soon so I might not be able to post the next chapter for quite a while.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Remember to read, review and enjoy!


	5. Chapter 5

-Chapter 5: Marr's Pass-

The caravanners made their way back to their caravan, all their spirits were high after defeating their first dungeon. They had decided amongst themselves that the most injured out of them, Lily, Raoul, Yami and Azaroth would be the ones in the rickety vehicle this time.

"And then, Gar was all like, swoosh! Swoosh!" Kim exclaimed, making dynamic swinging motions with her arms as she remembered the epic fight they just had.

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Lily grumbled disinterestedly, rolling her eyes from the back perch, "I'm just upset that we're not killing things anymore."

"You'll get your fill in the next area," Ellanoir said, looking at a map in her hands, "The mushroom forest is full of things for you to hit, enemy or no."

A feral smile appeared on Lily's face at the prospect.

"I'm not sure if I like that look or not," Kim stated uncomfortably as Lily twirled her mallet, her eyes flashing with bloodlust.

"As long as she doesn't hit us, I don't see a problem," Ellanoir said, still not looking up from her map.

"Hey you should really look where you're going," Kim stated, her eyes on the Yuke as she stepped over a rock.

"Nah, it's fine," Ellanoir replied, waving a hand dismissively, "It's far more efficient to do planning on the road rather tha-"

That was all she managed to say before falling flat on her face. Kim stifled a giggle while Lily blatantly laughed at the Yuke as she picked herself up.

"I wish I was the one to warn you," Lily laughed, clutching her stomach, "Oh god. That was too perfect!"

"Fine, maybe it would be wiser to play a look out when walking," Ellanoir huffed irritably, dusting herself off.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Kim said, walking ahead, "Let's go!"

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Yami asked timidly.

"Hm? Me?" Raoul asked, pointing to himself, "Well, I'm doing fine. Most of these bandages should be removed by tomorrow."

He was covered in bandages that covered the worst of his wounds. Most of which were from when he had taken on four goblins at once. Yami too had her fair share of injuries, however her worst one was the thundara spell as she had little magic resistance, something that many a times her elder sister had told her she would build up over time after being hit by spells. She brought her knees to her face and curled up in a fetal position. Tears welling up in her eyes as she remembered her late sister.

"Hey, are you alright?" Raoul asked.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm alright," Yami replied, blinking back her tears and looking up, "I jus-AAHH!"

Yami screamed at the sight of a goblin face right in front of her own. Behind it, Raoul was doubling over laughing.

"Oh god, that was too funny," Raoul said, wiping tears out of his eyes. Yami took a closer look at the 'goblin' and saw that it was just a mask.

"That wasn't funny," Yami pouted, her face darkening in embarrassment.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Raoul said, calming down, "I'm sorry but that was too good."

"Don't do it again and you're forgiven," Yami replied.

"Gotcha," Raoul said. But his mind was already whirling and hatching more plans.

* * *

"Well…" Luke said, tilting his hat backwards so he could look up and see the massive structure before them, "If anything, it is huge."

The other caravanners merely looked up at the miasma stream before them. Huge was an understatement. It stretched all the way from one side of the peninsula to the other, cutting it off from Iron Mine Downs on the other side of it. A deep rumbling came from within, making one wonder whether if it was alive.

"No point admiring its size," Gar deadpanned, walking toward its entrance, "C'mon."

The rest of the caravan followed, rattling dangerously as the vehicle heaved and creaked under the influence of the wind inside. The interior of the place was, in one word, cavernous. It looked like the entire structure was hollow, filled with rushing winds and howling rain. The chalice's barrier deflected the worst of the storm but rain was still getting in and on the travelers. The roof of the area was bunched and gray similar to storm clouds. The only thing connecting the dirt cliff the Alastar caravan was on the one opposite was a thin dirt bridge.

"Are you serious?" Ellanoir asked incredulously, pointing at their only way across, "We have to walk across that?"

"Sure!" Raoul called out from the caravan, "Just go across!"

"You're lucky you're inside," Lily grumbled, attempting to hide from the rain in the meager shelter offered to the back perch.

"It's really not that good," Yami quietly pointed out, "The roof has a few leaks in it."

"Either way, let's go," Luke said, adjusting his hat, "The quicker we move, the faster this will be over and done with."

The four caravanners outside closed in on the caravan, one on each side, guarding it as they made their way across the seemingly fragile bridge. A large gust came by, pushing the caravan's weight dangerously on one side. Raoul and Yami held their breath inside the vehicle as their friends pushed it back to its default position. Fortunately, no more incidents occurred as the vehicle made its way across.

* * *

"Well, it's nice to be dry again," Kim said aloud, wringing her sleeves out.

The caravan had made its way out of the miasma stream and was currently on its way to Marr's Pass. They had realized that for how much they prepared, none of them had packed a tent or any sort of bedrolls. The sky had been orange before they entered the stream and now it was dark, needing Luke and Gar to lead the way, a torch in each of their hands.

"We can't be much further now," Luke called in a bid to keep spirits up.

"Sure," Lily grumbled, rolling her eyes from the back perch.

"No. He's right," Ellanoir said, looking at the glowing lights in the distance, "We're here!"

All the caravanners either looked at the upcoming town or poked their heads out from or around the caravan.

Marr's Pass was quite a sight. They little village was lit up by small lanterns that hang from the houses. The houses had straw roofs bordered by timber covering cobblestone walls. The cobbled pathway glinted seemingly in greeting as the caravan pulled up to the nearest inn. A young Clavat, seemingly their age, stepped out of the establishment as they approached. Her hips swayed underneath a dark apron as she spread her toned arms out in welcome.

"Hello there travelers!" She greeted warmly, waving a hand, "What can I do for you?"

"We were hoping for a room for the night," Luke replied, "As well as some towels and a place for the caravan."

"Sure!" The girl said, tallying the numbers in her head, "That'll be thirty gil per head, forty for the stable and care and fifty per room you use."

"Do you have a room large enough for all of us?" Ellanoir enquired as the caravanners got off the caravan, allowing Azaroth to bring the vehicle round to the back.

"Hmm… Nope," The Clavat answered, brushing back a lock of red hair, "Our largest size is four per room,"

"We'll take two then," Luke said, forking over the money.

"Okay, thanks for your patronage!" The girl said happily, putting the money away, "By the way, the name's Rashe."

"I'm Luke," The young leader said, tilting his cap, "And this is my caravan."

The group followed Rashe inside, Lily shooting Luke a glare for not introducing them.

"Your caravan huh?" She said acidly, "We're not important enough to have names huh?"

"It's not that," Luke explained, "I just didn't think it was important for her to know your names seeing as we are only going to stay one night."

"By the way," Luke continued, stopping at the front desk as Rashe searched for their keys, "You all owe me thirty gil each."

"Why?" Raoul asked, his hand instinctively moving to the pouch at his waist.

"Because I only paid first," The Clavat explained, taking the two keys and towels from the young innkeeper, "I'm still expecting you guys to pay at least for yourselves."

Luke distributed the towels and the rest of the caravan paid on the way to their rooms. Raoul gingerly reached into his pouch and pulled out the money, passing the money to the Clavat leader.

The caravan decided to split their caravan the fastest way; by gender.

* * *

The boys went into their room; it was decent sized room. Four simple beds lined the wall opposing the door they had just entered. Windows provided a view of the sleeping town, the soft glow from outside leaking into the room. Candles lit the room from where they hang on the walls. A small table was flushed against the wall with the door.

Luke practically crashed face-first onto the nearest bed, raising a hand and mumbling, "Mine."

Gar moved to the bed next to it and lay on his back. Azaroth took the bed furthest from the door, sitting down to write in a book. Raoul shrugged his shoulders and climbed onto the last bed. Luke fell asleep almost instantly, his soft snoring filling the room. Raoul followed shortly, along with Azaroth who closed his book and pulled his covers over himself. Gar simply stared up at the ceiling, watching as the candlelight danced, causing the shadows on the ceiling to flicker. He pulled out a small pendant from under his tunic, holding up to his face, observing the craft closely.

"I'm on my way," He whispered to himself, tucking the trinket away and rolling over.

* * *

"Pillow fight!" Kim screamed, beating Yami over the head with a fluffy cushion. The Clavat was taken by surprise, losing her balance rolling over and onto the floor.

"You're on!" Lily declared, a pillow in each hand and a viscous smile on her face.

The two locked themselves in mortal combat, dodging and laughing as they scored hits on the other. Ellanoir rolled her eyes, returning to her book. She was not about to get into another fight if she could avoid it.

Suddenly, a pillow filled her vision as her head was forced back. As she peeled the pillow off, she saw Lily and Kim staring at her giggling.

"Sorry Ella," Kim apologized, holding a hand over her mouth to stop her from laughing, "I meant to throw that at Lily."

The Yuke blew a feather out of her face before rising to her feet.

"Suuuuure," Ellanoir said, adjusting her grip on the pillow, "Anyway, who said you could call me 'Ella'?"

As if to punctuate her sentence, threw the pillow, sending flying straight at Kim. The Selkie leaned backward, letting the pillow pass and slam into Yami who had just gotten onto her feet.

"Oh!" Ellanoir exclaimed, covering her mouth with both her hands, "Yami I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

Before the Yuke could get an answer, she was whacked in the face by a pillow.

"Ha!" Lily cried out, pointing a finger at the Yuke, "Your guard was do-"

The Lilty was cut off as another pillow flew at her, hitting its mark. Kim turned to see Yami smiling sheepishly behind a pillow.

"Yeah I'm okay," She replied, holding the pillow in a two handed grip, "But you guys won't be!"

From there, the night descended into a fluffy melee, feathers flying everywhere as the girls creamed each other with pillows.

* * *

Luke cracked his eyes open, yawning.

"Man, that was a nice sleep," He mumbling, rising to a sitting position. He squinted his eyes, shielding them from the morning light that flooded into the room. He stretched, popping a few cracks as he stood up. He looked over to his left and saw the sleeping forms of his roommates. Gar slept curled in a ball, Azaroth lay somewhat stiffly while Raoul slept all over his bed, his bucket tilted to a point almost showing his face.

'Did he really sleep with his helmet on?' Luke asked himself, 'Then again, Yukes do it all the time.'

He took a light sniff of his person, quickly deciding to take a bath as the rank odor met his nose.

He went out the door, making his way to the stables in order to get his clothes. The wooden floorboard creaked beneath his feet as he shuffled down the hallway. He soon came to his destination, letting the scent of fresh hay and papaopamus engulf him as he tried to find his caravan. He came to it soon enough and he climbed in rummaging through the bags and haversacks until he found his own. As he hopped out, he saw a couple of Lilties. They were dressed in red, their glossy black armor glinting in the morning sunlight as they seemingly argued about something.

'Wonder what they're doing," He thought to himself, 'Well, it can't hurt to try and find out.'

"Hey there," He called out, leaning on the back perch and waving as he tucked his bag under one arm. The Lilties turned at the greeting, waving in kind.

"Hello there," One of them said in a warm voice, "A fine morning this is isn't it?"

"Sure is," Luke replied casually, "What's up?"

"Well, this genius here thinks that it's a good idea to go for an adventure when our caravan's like this," The other Lilty grumbled, motioning to their vehicle.

Luke took a look and could understand why the other did not want to. The caravan wad]s relatively beat up, the wheels sagging under the burden on top of it.

"Aw, c'mon," The first Lilty whined, "It can take at least one more adventure."

"No it can't," The other replied flatly, crossing her arms, "If it breaks down on the way to or from the dungeon we're done for."

"Well…" Luke said slowly, forming the words in his head, "I think it might be able to take just one more dungeon."

"Really?" The first Lilty piped up, then he turned to his companion, a sneer across his face.

"Hah! I told you we could go for another one!" He said, shoving the words into her face.

The other rolled her eyes.

"You're going to take the word of a complete stranger? You don't even know his name!" She said, pointedly glaring at Luke, "And you. Do you really think that this heap of wood could go for another?"

"Sure," Luke replied, "By the way, if you're so concerned about my name, I'm Luke."

"I'm Leuts Royle from the Marr's caravan. Pleasure to meet you." The first Lilty introduced, giving a slight bow.

Then, pointing backwards with a thumb, he said, "She's Lyne Dott, don't worry, she's more often angry than not."

"Hey!" Lyne cried out from where she was, "I'm still here you know?!"

"Nice to meet you," Luke said, tilting his hat respectfully at the Lilty.

Luke stepped closer to the caravan, scratching his chin as he inspected it.

"The wheels should last at least one more day," he said, pulling back, "So unless you go for a long adventure it should be fine."

"Fine, fine, we can go," She grumbled, glaring at Luke, "Just because some random stranger said it would be fine. But we still need, Rolfwood before we can leave."

"Who's Rolfwood?" Luke asked, still debating whether or not he made the right decision.

"Our leader," The male Lilty answered, grinning and beginning to mount supplies onto the caravan, "He's still showering."

The caravan creaked heavily as boxes of food were piled into it. Lyne looked doubtfully at the vehicle, stopping only to glare at Luke.

The Clavat in question shifted uncomfortably under the withering stare. Leuts saw his plight and chuckled softly patting the Luke on the back.

"Thanks for backing me up man." The Lilty said before returning to his packing.

"No problem," Luke said, turning to leave himself, "Just back me up when I need it!"

"Sure thing!" Leuts replied.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and the sound of splintering wood. Luke cringed at the noise and turned to see the Marr's caravan on the floor.

"Well, I guess we need to take a break," Leuts said before laughing.

Luke gave the Lilty an apologetic shrug and slipping away while Lyne seized to opportunity, shouting the words, 'I told you so' over and over again.

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the windows of the girl's room and onto Kim's face, waking her up. The Selkie sat up, running a hand through her short purple hair. She looked over to her right where her roommates had collapsed. All of them were exhausted from last night's brawl.

Ella, the name Kim and the other girls had grown accustomed to calling her after last night, lay sprawled out on the floor with Yami sleeping across her stomach. A smile made its way onto Kim's lips as she remembered how the Clavat had tried her best last night to keep up with the others despite her shy nature. Lily was snoring softly atop a bed, the 'winner' of the fight as the others gave up out of exhaustion.

Kim got up off the floor and looked around the room; the once clean and tidy place was now strewn with bed sheets and blankets as feathers covered the entire area like snow.

'I wonder if we have to pay extra for this,' Kim thought to herself. The Selkie got up and walked straight out the door, her destination being the bathroom.

Luke stepped out of the men's baths, his soiled clothes around one arm while his free hand ruffled his damp hair. He smiled contently, feeling refreshed and clean. He turned to walk back to the caravan when he saw Kim walking down the corridor. He waved a hand casually to which the other party waved back.

"Hey Luke," Kim called out, "Just had a shower?"

"Yep," The Clavat replied, walking towards her, "Their baths are nice; you should try one."

"I'll think about it," Kim said, remembering what she had been through the previous day, "Do they have nice smelling soap?"

"It doesn't smell bad," Luke answered as they passed each other, "By the way, can you tell the others to meet in the dining room soon? We need to grab what we need before we leave."

"Sure!" The Selkie replied, skipping towards the bathroom, "Can't wait to see what's so nice about their baths."

Luke chuckled to himself as the energetic girl disappeared around the corner into the female bath.

'At the very least she has energy,' Luke thought to himself.

* * *

Azaroth awoke to the sound of people talking, their voices echoing around slightly in his helmet.

"Hey, how do we wake him up?" He heard Raoul ask someone, "With a pail of water?"

"Suit yourself," Gar replied disinterestedly, "I'd rather not be a part of this."

"Awwww c'mon," Raoul pleaded, "I can't lift a pail big enough to douse the big guy."

"Douse who?" Azaroth asked, sitting up, deciding he had enough.

"Azaroth!" Raoul cried in surprise, nearly falling off his bed, "Uh we weren't talking about anything!"

"He wanted to splash you awake," Gar answered frankly, pulling on his slippers.

"Traitor!" Raoul hissed, shaking a fist at the Selkie, "Why I ought to-"

" _I_ ought to hit _you_!" Azaroth said, whacking the Lilty's helmet.

Gar merely rolled his eyes and left the room as the Azaroth began to reprimand the Lilty for doing stupid pranks. As Gar stepped into the hallway, he heard a whistle. He turned to the source of the voice and saw Luke approaching.

"Hey Gar," Luke said, stopping in front of the Selkie, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Gar replied, "Just the two metal heads fighting."

Luke let out a slight chuckle.

"So you going to bathe?" He asked, motioning down the way he had just came, "Their baths are nice."

"I'll take one tonight," Gar said, ruffling his hair, "Mushroom forest is going to be filled with spores and poison, both of which need to be scrubbed thoroughly,"

"I see," Luke said, "Well, whatever floats your boat. Say, do you want to go to the dining room?"

"Sure," Gar replied shrugging his shoulders, "Not like I have anything else to do."

Luke knocked on their room door and called out, "Hey Azaroth! When you're done with him, drag him down to the dining room."

"Sure," Was the reply. Accompanied by, "You're not going to save me?!"

Luke chuckled to himself as he and Gar headed to the dining room.

* * *

"Quickly!" Lily urged impatiently as she hurried along to the dining room, "The others are probably waiting for us already!"

"W-wait up!" Yami pleaded as she dragged her tired body to keep up with the fiery Lilty.

"Really now," Ella said, a tone of disdain in her voice, "You know the reason we're so tight on time is because _you_ couldn't be bothered to wake up."

"Well I'm rushing now aren't I?" Lily retorted sharply, turning back and shooting a glare at the Yuke, "Now hurry up before we don't get any breakfast at all!"

Lily barged in through the door, revealing a relatively large room with tables spread throughout it. The walls were made with stone, clean circular holes cut into them to make windows. The room was lit by the morning light that filtered in through said windows. Sitting at the tables were other caravanners, digging into their food and drink while they engaged in hearty conversation. Over in the corner of Lily's eye, a waving hand caught her attention.

"Hey Lily! Over here!" Luke called out, pulling back his hand.

The three girls made their way over to the table and took their seats. As they had sat down, they were handed menus by their friends.

"So what took you guys so long?" Kim asked, tucking into her loaf of bannock.

"Well you see-" Ella began but she was cut off by Lily kicking her in the shins,

"Nothing much," Lily said, leaning back in her chair as Ella cursed silently, clutching her wounded leg.

After they had decided what they wanted, they waved for a waiter and Rashe came.

"Wow, you're the receptionist and the waiter?" Ella remarked, "Isn't it quite tiring?"

"Well… it is, but it's still enjoyable," Rashe answered, pulling up a small wad of parchment and a pencil, "Anyways, What'll it be?"

"Meat." Lily replied flatly.

"Umm… can I have a loaf of bannock?" Yami asked gingerly, "And some milk as well."

"I'll have a star carrot salad," Ella said, after some thought.

"Alright then! I'll have it done in a jiffy," Rashe said as she scribbled down the last of the order.

"Alright then, here's the plan," Luke said, calling the attention to the three girls as Rashe walked away, "After breakfast, we head out to the mushroom forest and get that myrrh."

"I like that plan," Lily agreed, grinning devilishly.

"Oh well, at least we get more fighting experience," Ella sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

* * *

AN:

Hey guys! Finally done with this chapter!

Had a little bit of a writer's block, but i managed past it.

Hope you liked it! Please read, review and enjoy!


	6. Chapter 6

-Chapter 6: Mushroom Forest-

"Wow," Yami said in awe as the caravan stopped outside the Mushroom Forest, "It's so pretty."

The forest itself was made if mushrooms, therefore its namesake. However its namesake failed to describe how huge the mushrooms were. Each fungus was as large as a house. Most of them were a dull orange, but there were still some fluorescent green and yellow ones interspersed among them. The air was filled with spores, each a size of a walnut and letting out a faint glow.

"That's only the outside though," Ella stated, steeling herself for the battles that lay ahead, "The inside is probably brimming with monsters."

The group left the caravan outside the dungeon and proceeded to enter. The distinct scent of fungi filled the air, however, there was no stench of wet rot.

"I actually expected the Mushroom Forest to be some dark decrepit place," Azaroth admitted, "but this is impressive."

Luke too had to agree, he had never seen mushrooms ever this beautiful in his entire life. The smell in the air was almost reminiscent of a mushroom soup he had when he was a kid, making his mouth water slightly.

Suddenly, a thin beam of magic shot out of the sky, missing Luke only by inches.

"Whoa!" Luke yelled, tumbling backwards, "What the baloney was that?!"

The all heads snapped up to the source, it was a creature whose huge central eye almost made up its entire body. It also had huge leathery wings, each only slightly longer than its body.

"An Ahriman," Azaroth ground out, placing the chalice on the ground, "They would decide to attack us right out of the gate."

Ella attempted to freeze the flying beast but was interrupted when she felt something hard bash the back of her head. She cried out before sinking to her knees, her vision spinning from the prior attack.

"What the-" She began, but was cut off by another blow. The perpetrator of the attack, a small portly creature with a large ball attached to his head, grinned down at its handiwork. The grin quickly vanished when Lily charged at it, smacking it away.

"You alright?" Lily asked, readying her mallet.

"Yeah, just give me a while," Ella groaned, slowly getting to her feet, "Stupid gremlin."

The gremlin growled at this insult and lunged forward again, bringing its ball down in an arc. This time however, Lily met the blow with her weapon, sending the ball and the creature flying.

"That should take care of that," Lily grunted, turning back to the group.

Suddenly, an odd green segmented creature leapt at her, releasing a ring of magic at her. Lily keeled backwards as pain coursed through her body. After the pain subsided, she felt her body getting warm, actually very warm, in fact she felt like she was burning up.

The segmented creature reared up, ready to strike, at least it was until a spear burst forth from its stomach.

"Ah ah ah," Raoul taunted, wagging a finger, "No touching my friends."

He yanked his spear out, allowing the monster to curl up into a ball before dissipating into the miasma. He ran over to Lily who was writhing in agony.

"Lily? What's wrong?" Raoul asked, glancing over her body for injuries.

"Unngghh! The hell if I know!" Lily spat, gripping her arms, "Arrgggh it burns!"

"She's poisoned," Ella explained, coming up and kneeling down next to her, "I start healing her now."

She positioned her feathery hands over Lily's twitching body. An ethereal glow began to emanate from the Lilty as the healing spell, clear was cast on her. Raoul watched on as Lily's jerking got less violent and her breathing eased.

"Raoul," Ella began, grabbing his attention, "do you have any water on you?"

"Sure," Raoul answered, pulling out his water skin and offering it to the Yuke.

Ella took out her handkerchief and poured some water onto it, she then wiped Lily's face with it and gave the skin to her.

"Drink," Ella said, putting away her handkerchief, "You need to flush out the remaining toxins with water."

Lily nodded and drank, passing the skin back to Raoul when she was done.

"Thanks," She said, wiping her mouth.

"It was nothing," Ella replied modestly, getting to her feet, "Now let's get back to the others."

* * *

The ahriman screeched in pain as it crumpled onto the floor, the strength of the gravity spell cast on it crushing it.

"Good work," Azaroth complimented Yami in an off handed manner as Raoul finished off the monster.

"Thanks," Yami said shyly, putting her hands behind her.

"Uh guys?" Kim yelled, leaping back from her opponent, "A little help maybe?"

While the two were busy with the ahriman, two plant-like creatures had started attacking the Selkies. Each creature had a stem for a body and leaves for hands. Its head resembled a flower, except it has rows of teeth. Gar could not get a clear shot as he was dodging around the seeds fired by the plants.

"Gar!" Luke shouted, looking over at him.

Gar grunted in acknowledgement and began lining up a shot. The hell plant fired a seed at Gar but Luke slid in between them, the seed making a clink as it ricocheted off of Luke's shield.

Gar launched a shot at the hell plant. The shot hit its mark, making the plant crumple upon impact.

The group put away their weapons and gathered at their chalice.

"Well, at least none of us got any serious injuries," Yami said, picking up the chalice.

"Speak for yourself," Ella grumbled, rubbing a spot on the back of her helm, "This injury still smarts."

"I'm curious Ella," Raoul began. He and the other guys in the caravan got used to the girls calling Ellanoir by her nickname and began to use it too. "Does rubbing your helmet actually apply pressure to the wound?"

"Er... well no," The Yuke replied thoughtfully, "It just kind of gives me a placebo effect that I am rubbing the wound."

"Alright then, let's move on," Luke said, heading off deeper into the dungeon.

* * *

He group moved deeper in, dispatching of monsters and looting the occasional chest or two. Azaroth had been set on permanent chalice duty due to his positioning in battles. The trail they had been following soon came to a large steep cliff.

"Well, where do we go now?" Lily asked, toting her mallet on a shoulder.

"Up?" Raoul suggested playfully, a grin on his lips.

"How in the blue sky are we supposed to climb that?" Kim asked, looking up the sheer cliff.

"It's not like we can go around," Luke stated, looking around. The area that surrounded them was full of thick tall mushrooms.

"I agree with Raoul," Ella said, "We should go up. Even if it's not the right way, it will give us a better vantage point."

"Well, don't we can't do it unless we try," Yami said shrugging her shoulders.

She walked towards the cliff, the others following behind her. It seemed to grow as Yami walked towards it, her head having to crane up to even see the edge. Suddenly, her body sank downwards as her foot landed on nothing, sending her tumbling forward.

"YAMI!" Luke shouted as his friend fell screaming into a pit in front of them.

The rest of the caravan rushed forward, leaning over the edge of the pit. Suddenly, Yami came flying up and past them, screaming her lungs out. The other's head snapped upwards, watch as she was sent sailing and flailing through the air out of the pit.

"I got her!" Luke yelled, running towards Yami as she began to fall.

He held out his arms, expecting to catch her but was instead greeted by her full weight upon his back as her misjudged his positioning.

"Yami! Luke!" Kim cried out as she and the others came over, "Are you guys alright?"

"I am...," The female Clavat replied shakily, then, looking down she asked, "Are you Luke?"

"Yes thankfully," Luke replied, spitting out some dirt that got into his mouth, "No offense but can you please get off me?"

Yami turned red and quickly leapt off of Luke, apologizing profusely as she did so.

"It's fine, no harm done," Luke reassured the Clavat, "As long as you're alright."

Yami turned a shade darker from this.

"So what was that pit?" Lily asked, bringing the group back to reality.

"Umm, I couldn't see very well," Yami answered, her embarrassment forgotten, "All I saw was a deep... dark... pit..."

And that was all she managed before she began shuddering from memories of her near death experience.

"Well, let's check it out anyway," Azaroth said, shrugging his shoulders, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Suddenly loud shouts could be heard behind them along with some questionable bouncing noises. The group turned to see a smiling Raoul seemingly flying in and out of the pit.

"Hey guys!" Raoul called out, "Join in! It's fun!"

"Are you insane?" Ella asked flatly, "What is even bouncing you up and down?"

"A giant mushroom!" Raoul replied, trying to do a somersault, "It's large and very springy!"

Gar went to the edge to confirm this. The bottom of pit was indeed lined by a gigantic mushroom that launched Raoul back up every time he landed on it.

"C'mon guys, it's fun!" Raoul persisted, "And we can get on top of the cliff like this!"

"It's too dangerous!" Ella retorted, folding her arms, "We need to find another way around."

Just as she finished talking, Luke leapt down into the pit as well. He bounced skywards alongside Raoul.

"Man, you weren't kidding when you said this was fun!" Luke shouted, smiling as the wind whipped past his face. Ella face-palmed.

"LUKE!" Ella cried out in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air, "What the baloney are you doing?!"

"Getting up," Luke replies casually as he bounced onto the edge of the cliff, "C'mon! It's not that hard."

The caravanners below looked at one another, waiting for one to make the first move as Raoul landed on the cliff next to Luke. The one to break the silence was Kim who leapt into the pit with a great, "Yahoo!"

Gar shrugged his shoulders before going forward and jumping in himself. Lily followed suite, mumbling something about how her caravan was crazy.

Kim bounced high, back-flipped and landed perfectly on her feet, earning a small applause from Luke and Raoul. Gar landed solidly on the cliff afterwards, dusting off the small spores that stuck to his tunic.

"LUKE YOU LIED!" Lily screamed, bouncing up and down, still trying to get her bearings.

Azaroth quietly gave up inside and jumped into the pit. When he bounced up however, he was fortunately sent in the right direction but landed right on his butt.

"Looks like you need more training young'un," Raoul commented in his best old man voice, scratching his chin as if he had a beard there.

"Oh shut up," Azaroth grumbled, getting to his feet.

Lily managed to somehow land, belly first, onto the cliff, knocking the wind out of her. Raoul went over to check if she was okay when Yami plucked up enough courage to jump into the pit. The Clavat screamed and shut her eyes as she was sent skyward, flying up just above the cliff.

Just as Yami expected to fall back all the way down, she felt herself being caught by a pair of strong arms. She opened her eyes to see Luke's grinning face.

"Hey I didn't miss this time," He said, carrying Yami onto the cliff before putting her down.

"Well you could've caught me asshole," Lily groaned, rubbing her stomach, "Oh lord that hurts."

"Sorry about that Lily," Luke apologized, scratching the back of his head, "I didn't expect you to fall so unexpectedly."

Before Lily could retort, a loud scream came from the cliff, Raoul, Kim and Gar ran over to the cliff to see Ella fly up to their faces. The Yuke fell back down before flying back up again.

"Umm HELLO?" Ella practically shouted in their faces, "A little help?"

The trio managed to catch her as she flew over the cliff and set her back up.

"Never. Again," Ella seethed, her voice hard with conviction, "Am I going to bounce on another god forsaken mushroom in my life."

"Agreed," Lily ground out, gripping her mallet tightly.

"But you will have to go back down that same way you know?" Raoul pointed out.

The two exchanged glances before shouting, "ARRRRRGH!"

* * *

The group proceeded to continue through the forest, marching on the path seemingly made for caravanners to walk.

"Is it just me or do you guys feel like we're being watched?" Ella asked, tilting her head to check every corner now and then.

"No way, monsters aren't that smart," Raoul dismissed, waving a hand.

"I have to agree," Azaroth said, "Monsters don't have the mental capacity to set traps or carry out complex plans."

As if to mock him, a seed flew out of nowhere, blasting Azaroth in the side of the head and dazing him. The caravanner flipped onto high alert as gremlins, ahrimans and worms began to descend upon them.

"Rule number one of fighting," Ella reminded, a hint of pride in her voice, "Never underestimate you opponent."

Raoul grinned sheepishly while Azaroth regained his footing, shooting a glare at the Lilty.

"And that's the last time I take your side," He grumbled readying a fire spell.

"Hey, I didn't force you into it," Raoul said back, slicing a worm in half.

The group descended into a mad melee, with front-liners mashing and mincing the monsters and mages and archers supporting from the back. The monsters too however, were wise with their positioning, with the gremlins and worms soaking up most of the damage, the ahrimans could dive down and strike while the hell plants shot at the caravnners at a distance.

The battle seemed to be in their favour, until loud stomping could be heard. Luke cut through the gremlin he was fighting when a large shadow came over him.

"DUCK!" Raoul's came loud and clear.

Luke instinctively followed, dropping on all fours. A large vine swept over him, swatting away some of the other monsters. Luke looked up to see a huge bulb-like creature towering over him. The creature had thick, long vines coming out of its base, two of which it used like arms and the others it used to support itself. The base of the creature looked like a tutu made of petals, however each of them were sharp almost blade-like in appearance. The most terrifying part of the creature however was it mouth, a large hole on its front lined with yellowish teeth and a stench that made garbage smell pleasant in comparison.

"What the hell is that?!" Lily yelled, dodging another of the creature's swipes.

"An ochu!" Azaroth shouted back, gathering up a fira spell, "Get back!"

Luke and Lily leapt backwards as Azaroth let his fira spell go. The earth below the ochu erupted in flames, the fire forming a pillar of fire, engulfing the monster. The ochu shrieked in pain, its vine-arms flailing around. After the flames died down, the charred body of the creature sat limp on the ground.

"Is it dead?" Luke asked, moving as if to go up and check.

"Hey leader!" Lily barked, bashing a gremlin's skull in, "We have bigger problems on our hands!"

Luke nodded and turned his attention to the rest of the monsters.  
_

Raoul charged forward, skewering a couple of gremlins on his lance. Before he could pull out, a worm leapt at him, a ring of magic beginning to form around its head.

"Watch out!" Yami cried as she cut through a worm of her own.

Raoul nodded briefly before rolling to the side, abandoning his weapon but avoiding the incoming poison spell. He quickly regained his footing and dashed back to his lance. The worm however, was not about to let him do that. It tackled him from the side, knocking him over and winding him.

"Oof!" Raoul grunted as his body met the hard mushroom floor.

The worm reared up, hissing dangerously until a blast of fire magic hit its side.

"Thanks Ella!" Raoul called out, shoving the burning worm off of him, "I owe ya!"

"If you do owe me pay it back now!" Ella shouted back, "I'm almost overwhelmed here!"

Ella and Lily were surrounded by monsters and they were coming fast than they could kill. Raoul head perked up, staying still as if observing something intently. He then suddenly dashed towards his lance, grabbed and lobbed it in the direction of Ella's voice, almost slashing her as it skewered a gremlin.

"Hey watch it!" Ella cried irritably, "I don't want to have to deal with friendly fire too!"

"Sorry'" Raoul apologized as he ran to retrieve his lance, "It's kinda hard to know who is where in the thick of combat."

"Yeah well make sure you don't kill us," Lily snapped, giving a spinning blow to a worm.

* * *

Gar dodged back, as an ahriman dived at him. He shot at it, knocking it to the ground where it met its demise at Raoul's hands. He looked up and surveyed the battle field for a moment. It seemed that the monsters were wearing thin and that they were winning. Yet why did he feel that something bad was going to happen?

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he caught something large moving.

"Kim! Azaroth! Move!" He barked, running over to them.

"Wha-" Was all Azaroth managed to get out before he was creamed by a vine to his visor.

Kim had managed to avoid the attack barely but Azaroth was sent flying. The chalice rolled along the forest floor, leaving Luke and Yami out of its barrier

"Gah!" Luke gagged as he choked on the miasma filled air.

His lungs felt tighten, making his breathing laboured and restricted. He gasped for air and clutched the floor trying to get some stable footing.

He looked up and saw Yami was doing no better, she too was on the ground with a gremlin standing over her... Wait. What?

Luke quickly gathered his strength as he made a mad dash towards his downed friend, bashing the gremlin away.

"Yami!" He coughed out, "Can you walk?"

Yami nodded getting to her feet slowly. Luke turned around only to be faced with more gremlins

"Guys! We need the chalice!" Luke yelled, shakily brandishing his axe at the gremlins.

His vision began a spin a little. How many gremlins were there? Three? Four? Five? He could not tell. Suddenly, some of the gremlins leapt forward at him, he raised his shield but was knocked backward. He grunted heavily as he hit the floor, his hard earned breath leaving him. He looked up at his attacker as it raised its ball, threatening to bash him.

All at once, his breathing eased and his vision snapped into near perfect clarity, allowing him to quickly bounce back on his feet and cut open the monster before him. The gremlin gurgled in surprise as it dissipated into the miasma. Luke looked at his own person in wonder.

'What just happened?' He thought to himself.

He soon found his answer as he saw Kim behind him, chalice in hand.

"I see you're feeling better," Kim said, putting down the chalice and drawing her bow.

"Yeah... I am," Luke replied, still feeling slightly unsettled by how instantaneous the effect of the chalice's barrier was.

He spun to look at Yami, only to see her shooting fire spells at some worms to keep them at bay.

"Looks like everyone's okay for now," He thought aloud, twirling his axe.

"NO WE'RE NOT YOU DOLT!" Lily screamed from the other edge of the barrier, "COME AND HELP ALREADY!"

* * *

As it swatted Azaroth aside, the Ochu roared, flailing its vines angrily.

"I'll go get him!" Kim volunteered, running after Azaroth.

"I thought we already killed it!" Lily groaned, readying her mallet.

"Oh well, maybe it has rare loot," Ella mused, preparing a fire spell.

"Now that is something I can get behind," Raoul said, grinning at the prospect of treasure, "Ella! Gar! Cover us!"

The Lilties led the charge first, lunging at the large bulbous creature. The other smaller monsters at the side were picked off by Gar and Ella. The ochu swung its vines at them, only to get then bashed away by Lily's mallet. Raoul seized the opportunity and buried his lance deep into the monsters abdomen. The ochu shrieked in pain, suddenly rotating its body fiercely. The sheer force of the spin forced them back a good few paces. The ochu stopped spinning, baring its large, yellow fangs. It began chanting in some strange language one could only assume to be monster tongue, waving its tentacles as it did so.

"What's it doing?" Lily asked, holding up her mallet defensively, "Singing?"

"No," Ella said, her voice wavering as she realized what it was doing, "MOVE RAOUL!"

Raoul did exactly as he was told, rolling to the left. The spot he had been in previously erupted in green magic, bubbling over before disappearing.

"What was that!?" Lily practically yelled.

"Poison magic," Ella explained, preparing a fire spell, "A juiced up version of the one that hit you."

"So just don't get hit right?" Raoul asked, leaping forward, lance at the ready.

The ochu saw this coming and bashed his lance away with one vine while grabbing him with the other.

"Gah!" Raoul cried in anguish as he felt the thick emerald vines tighten around his torso.

Just then, Luke leapt into the fray, chopping of the vine constricting the Lilty.

"Sorry I'm late!" He shouted, swinging his axe around, forcing the ochu to back off.

"You sure took your sweet time," Gar remarked, firing another aura shot

The shot hit the ochu square in its face. The monster roared at this outrage and flailed its stump. However, its stump soon began to form bubbly flesh. The flesh began to coil in on itself and extend into another vine tentacle.

"Oh come on!" Kim cried exasperatedly, shooting at the bulbous monster, "It can regenerate?!"

"Hey! Yami!" Lily called, readying her mallet, "Can you hit me up with a fire spell?"

"Okay," Yami replied, slightly taken aback by the sudden request.

The Clavat fired a spell at Lily who promptly smacked it, setting her weapon ablaze with magic.

"Yes!" She yelled, running towards the ochu, "Luke! Raoul Cover me!"

"Got it," They both replied.

Raoul ran ahead of Lily, slicing monster that blocked their path while Luke flanked Lily like a shadow, not letting anything get within range.

They soon were in front of the ochu, which swiped at them with its tentacles. Luke spun his axe in an arc, cutting one of the tentacles and deflecting the other with his shield. Lily and Raoul both leapt up, aiming for the monster's head. The ochu reacted fast, attempted to bite its opponents. Raoul skewered the top of its mouth and shoved the rest of his lance inside, forcing and holding the mouth open.

"Holy cow!" He exclaimed, pinching his nose, "You really need to brush your teeth pal,"

Lily swung her mallet into the side of the monster's head. The ochu cried as its face was literally bashed in but the brute force of the blow. Raoul and Lily drew back as fast as they could, giving the ochu apace as it flailed about.

Suddenly, the bulbous creature lunged at Luke roaring and swiping.

"Look out!" Lily yelled.

Luke tried to run bur was tackled down by a gremlin. The gremlin smiled evilly at Luke, knowing full well what was coming. Just then, the ochu burst into new pillars flames, making it shriek in terror. The monster its last before keeling over and finally dying. The others looked at the Yukes quizzically.

Azaroth was now rubbing the back of his head, seemingly having just woken up while Ella put her hands up defensively

"Don't look at me," she said, "I can't cast fusion magic by myself."

"Luke!" Came a voice from behind them.

The caravnners turned to see Yami crouching over Luke who was prying the now dead gremlin off of himself.

"Are you alright?" The female Clavat asked, concern evident in her eyes.

"Yeah' I'm fine," Luke assured her, flexing his arm, "See? No problem!"

The other caravanners eyes however were looking at the mana smoking off of Yami's hands as she sat next to Luke.

"We have one dangerous girl on our hands," Lily murmured, bouncing her mallet on her shoulder.

"You mean you?" Raoul commented, trying to stifle a giggle.

"One more comment like that and I will **end** you," Lily replied, stressing the word 'end'.

"Okay let's move on!" Luke said, now coming back to the group.

They proceeded deeper into the forest, unaware of what lay ahead of them.

* * *

AN:

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry for the long wait!

School started and it is a pain in the butt.

I might be uploading as frequently as a result but look forward to the next chapter!


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